Badaracco determined to build a winner in New Milford

Published 10:56 pm, Thursday, August 28, 2014

NEW MILFORD -- Larry Badaracco knows how hungry New Milford is to have a winning high school football team.

He lives here, he teaches here -- and now he wants to win here.

And Badaracco, who was hired in July and is New Milford High's third head football coach in three years, likes what he sees so far from his squad. Numbers are up, spirits are high and he has assembled a hungry, young coaching staff to light the way.

Success, he hopes, cannot be far behind.

"This town deserves it," Badaracco said following Tuesday afternoon's practice, the dust from the sun-baked practice field still hanging in the air. "It's a blue-collar community, the people love football here and they're just waiting for that spark, that signature win. I think we're going to get it soon. We're going to be successful here. With the numbers we have and the organization that we have and the structure we have in place and the support we have from the administration, it's a recipe for success."

History may not be on Badaracco's side -- the Green Wave has never played in a state playoff game in its roughly 50-year existence, and has posted only four winning seasons since the inception of the South-West Conference in 1995 -- but there is reason to believe that a bright future is on the horizon. More than 100 kids came out for the program this year, which, by itself, is a tremendous victory.

"It's coming together really well so far," Badaracco said. "The kids are meshing really well with the new coaches. They're out here, they're excited, the tempo is really good during practice. They're really thrilled about being out here for the football season, and everything is coming together really nicely."

Badaracco, a special education teacher at New Milford High School, was an assistant last year under John Murphy, who led the Green Wave to a 4-7 record in his only year at the helm. Murphy rode into town on a wave of optimism last season when he left his job at powerhouse Masuk -- where he had won three state titles and six SWC crowns in 16 seasons -- and headed north to take the helm at New Milford. Murphy resigned from his post in New Milford in June and was under investigation by the school board for an undisclosed reason at the time of his resignation.

Not dwelling on the past but certainly hoping to build on that sense of optimism, Badaracco has the Wave focused on the task at hand: getting ready to battle with Newtown in its season opener on Sept. 12.

"Obviously, these kids were upset that they lost their head coach, but I was with them all summer. (Offensive coordinator) Sean Murray has been here all summer long, working with the passing leagues and the workouts and things like that," Badaracco said. "So the transition was really smooth. I think the program is still pretty similar to when Murphy was here. It's run pretty effectively, it's organized, the kids are where they need to be when they need to be there. All that structure is still in place."

This is the first head coaching position for Badaracco, a former player at Immaculate High and Western Connecticut State who later served as an assistant coach for both those programs. A 2000 Immaculate graduate, Badaracco has assembled a coaching staff at New Milford that has ties to Immaculate and Western that go back more than 15 years.

Chris Mascolo, a 1999 Immaculate High graduate who had most recently built the Abbott Tech program from its inception in 2008, is the Wave's defensive coordinator. Sean Mahon, a former Western quarterback and one-time Immaculate head coach, is coaching the wide receivers. Badaracco and Mascolo played together at Immaculate under the late Steve Kaplanis, while Mahon was an assistant under Kaplanis at Immaculate and took over the head coaching duties after Kaplanis died in 2005. Badaracco and Mascolo both served as assistants under Mahon at Immaculate. Murray is another former Western quarterback who had served as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Bunnell High.

Personnel-wise, the sheer number of players has lent itself to competition at every position. Playing time will be earned, not given, and starting jobs are up for grabs.

"We lost a bunch of seniors, but we have a lot of current seniors and a lot of really good juniors," Badaracco said. "We've got really good numbers, and the kids are really competing. As of right now, there is competition at every position, so it's great. We have competition at quarterback, competition at running back, competition at all the offensive line spots, wide receiver, and defensively, we're competing at every spot. We have a ton of kids who want to play, who are hungry to play, and who are working hard."